Enhanced photocatalytic performance of electrospun hollow titanium dioxide nanofibers decorated with graphene quantum dots

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an outstanding photocatalytic semiconductor, but wide band gap of TiO2 significantly restricts its photocatalytic performance. Graphene possesses promising mechanical, optical and electrical properties. Relying on the excellent gain effect of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) on conductivity, unique up-conversion photoluminescence property and remarkable dye adsorption, the photoelectric properties of TiO2 can be significantly improved. In this study, a novel structure of GQDs-decorated TiO2 nanofibers was successfully prepared by electrospinning and hydrothermal synthesis procedures. The synthesized GQDs/TiO2 nanofibers composite exhibited a one-dimensional structure. The results show that introduction of GQDs prohibits the adverse recombination between photoinduced charges and prolongs the existence time. The photocatalytic properties characterization results show that 10% mass fraction of GQDs in composite nanofibers has the best degradation activity with its ultrafast electron transport rate and low electron–hole pair recombination rate.